Dirty Gourmet: Food for Your Outdoor Adventures

The inspiration for Dirty Gourmet came out of Aimee and Mai-Yan's four-month bike tour across North America several years ago. It was a completely self-sustained trip with the majority of their days ending at a campsite. This made for a lot of camp meals and experimentation with food in the outdoors. When they came back, their friend Emily was just ending three years of living in the mountains and working as an outdoor science teacher. With all three women facing a crossroads, they decided to combine their love of wilderness and shared knowledge about the importance of a good meal in the backcountry and create an outdoor food blog.

On New Year's Eve of 2009 at Leo Carillo State Park, at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California, they acquired three campsites, rolled in with a teardrop trailer, and set up a camping party to host and feed their 20 closest friends and family. With delicious food, great company, and a clear starry night (after two rainy plan-and-prep days), Dirty Gourmet was born.

Dirty Gourmet has grown organically since Aimee, Mai-Yan, and Emily started six years ago, allowing them to connect with people in the outdoors in many different ways. They have volunteered at trail cleanups, given lectures for the Sierra Club and REI, contributed to Backpacker Magazine, and even dabbled in food production.

More recently they've focused their efforts on catering and teaching outdoor cooking workshops. Participating in such events has allowed the Dirty Gourmet gals to interact directly with their audience, giving them the opportunity to learn as much as they teach. Through these experiences, they've gained a better view of the challenges others have with cooking in the wild. Dirty Gourmet's priority is to get more people to eat well outdoors, and they've found that working face-to-face with their fans and followers is the best and most authentic way to do so.

About Dirty Gourmet
http: //www.dirtygourmet.com/
@dirtygourmet
facebook.com/dirtygourmet
instagram.com/dirtygourmet

Emily Nielson has been immersed in the outdoor industry for her entire working life. She spends her free time rock climbing and hiking with her husband and three children. They live in Upland, California.

Aimee Trudeau grew up cooking and camping and studied Food Science in college. She and her kids have been vegan for over seven years. They live in Solvang, California.